Market Day!

Today, 26th of September, the yr 7s to year 10s got their market day which if you were following my blog post, it is when groups sell different kinds of products and learn more about how to run a business. Here is a brief explanation of what happened today:

My company was, I'd say pretty successful, we could've made more Croquembouche maybe even a hundred instead of just 30 because they sold pretty quickly. My favourite part of it was when we sold our products, I also really liked when we had to persuade people to buy our product and the last part that was probably the best part of my day; it was when we helped my friends who were in the other groups sell their products.
If I did this again I would probably change the product next time, into something that could be made fast and in which the ingredients will be cheaper, some of the products that are on my mind are, either empanada or churros.

Business and Enterprise - Market day! (update)

This past week in Kete, which is Business and Enterprise; we are getting ready for the market day, have created new posters that we could hang around the school and into classrooms to advertise of product. Currently, we are now just waiting for the day in which we could create our product which is as you know croquembouche. The process wouldn't take too long, only about an hour or so. My group is really looking forward to creating our products and selling it for people to enjoy.

(Today's highlights are that we've finished the new posters that we've made this week and currently putting them up in the classrooms.)

(Ideal Outcome)

Alchemy

Today, the 21st of September in science class we started to learn about Alchemy. Which has been around through the middle ages, where chemist in those days started experimenting with metals to- turn them into gold; not only that they also wanted to find the "Elixir of life". In this experiment, we used Zinc Nitrate solution, Zinc metal and copper (in a form of a ten cent coin). We boiled the solution of Zinc Nitrate with the Zinc metal and then added the 10cent coin; we then boiled it for 10 minutes, took the coin out, cooled it off with cold water and finally held it in the blue fire until the colour started to fade out and started to turn to gold. Here are the method and the equipment needed, should you try this at home you will need (Adult Supervision).

What probably could've made it look more like gold, is either, that we held the coin in the flame for longer, kept the coin to boil more or we could've put more zinc strips. But all in all, I think it was a really interesting experiment.

Alchemy

Aim:  

I want to find out how to turn a copper coin into gold.

Equipment:

• Copper Coin
• Bunsen burner
• Tripod
• Heat Mat
• Gauze mat
• 50ml beaker
• Scissor Tongs
• Zinc metal
• Zinc Nitrate solution

Method:

1. Put your safety glasses on.
2. Set up heating equipment.
3. Add 50ml of Zinc Nitrate to the beaker.
4. Add the strips of zinc metal into the solution.
5. Heat the beaker with a blue flame.
6. Once the solution is boiling, add the Copper coin on top of the Zinc.
7. Wait for 10mins.
8. Using scissor tongs, get the coin and wash it under water.
9. Still holding the coin with the scissor tongs, hold the coin in the blue flame.

Orana Wildlife Park Visit

Tuesday, the 18th of September, the year 7s who did not go to the Koru games went on a little trip to Orana Wildlife Park. In where we saw some amazing, fantastic animals, with some being native and some that are found in other countries. Some of the native animals that we saw were the kiwis, Pukekos, Keas and Emus; and the other animals that we saw, that were not native were, spider monkeys, lions, Tasmanian devils, tigers, zebras, buffalos, cheetahs, rhinos, silverback gorillas, sumatran tigers and orangutans.

Facts were learnt about these animals, let’s start with the Kiwis. Kiwis have adapted to have bone marrows instead of the normal hollow the reason being is that kiwis cannot fly and have run away or fight of predators that are in its habitat, to that one has to have strong and durable legs for kicking and running away.  Another fact is, Kiwis are nocturnal and hunts at night, they use their whiskers to sense movement and then uses their long beaks to dig up the insect or worm. Bonus fact Kiwis will carry their eggs for 28 days, and at the last few days, the Kiwi mother will not eat for there is no room in her belly left. After 6 weeks the baby Kiwi will have to leave its parents and have its own life.

Here’s another fact, but now about tigers. Let us focus on Sumatran tigers, they have adapted to get webbed feet, just like ducks! Mostly because it’s to help them catch their prey more efficiently.

Since we were talking about big cats, cheetahs the fastest land animal today with a speed of 80 to 120 km/h, they are the only big cats who can purr! Now, let’s not leave out the king of the jungle, lions have the loudest roar of any wild animal alive today, which could be as loud as 114 decibels and could be heard from 5 miles away.

Still staying on the jungles, Zebras are in fact not white with black stripes but more like black with white stripes; also their stripes are like that of our fingerprints, the pattern of their stripes are different for each one. How about rhinos you say, well I have facts for that too; a rhino's horn is made out of keratin the same material that our hairs and nails are made out of, to put it simply, a rhino's horn is just an overgrown toenail. Bonus fact about the (white rhinos), you may think that the (white) in the white rhinos name is connected to them, but in fact, it is not. The Danish named the rhino, “wide” rhino and was just misheard by people as white, it was then spread and now we called it the “White Rhino”.

Now let’s travel to Australia with our last animal fact. Tasmanian devils, from the island of Tasmania, are marsupials; meaning that just like the kangaroo, females have pouches to carry their babies. They will give birth to 20 babies, unluckily the mother will only have four nipples meaning only four will survive. Just like Charles Darwin theorized and once said: “It’s the survival of the fittest.” Also, bonus fact, Tasmanian devils got their name because of their devilish scream!

Croquembouche Advertisement video!

As said before we are currently getting ready for Market Day. Here is another advertisement that we made. The video is about how yummy and delicious our product is and why you should buy it. Unfortunately, there was a malfunction in technology in which we couldn't put a voice over in it. That is why we decided to just put the text that we were supposed to say in the powtoon video, which was a bit of an inconvenience, but all in all, I think we have made a quality powtoon video, here it is, enjoy!

Here is the link:
https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/eSjC9BsFUPR/?mode=movie#/

Fixed vs Growth Mindset

This term in Philosophy we started to learn more about what fixed and growth mindset looks like. Last week Mr.Scott proceeded a secret experiment that he told us after. It was about the reaction and the results that students got when they were told certain things. Four groups were arranged to answer riddles, with one half being to that they were really smart and they could do everything, with the other half being including me told that they could do it because they worked hard. As expected the ones who were told that they could do it because they worked hard had a significantly higher score and that they did not even try to cheat while the other half, not only did they get lower points but also they tried to cheat. That goes to show, words could change everything.

(From what I've found out about my self, I think I have a growth mindset for most of what I do, but there are sometimes that I will have a fixed mindset, for example when I try to enhance my ability to draw there are times where I don't succeed and would think about giving up. But, I do get over it and slowly but surely I started improving.)

Ice and Match trick

Today in science we did an experiment where you could hypothetically lift ice using a matchstick and salt. There were many fails and tries, due to the shape of the ice, what worked best are the flatter and more balanced ices some of the reasons are: if the ice is flatter and is more balanced the match would not fall that easily and it wouldn't wobble like a chicken. However, if the ice is not that balanced and is rounder it would have a harder time sticking to the ice.  It was a really challenging experiment but none the less it was very fun; I can't wait for the next experiment! Have a nice day, bye!

Ice Cold

You will need;

• A bowl of cold water
• A matchstick
• An ice cube
• Table salt

Instructions:

1. Place the ice cube carefully in the bowl of cold water
2. Gently place the match lengthwise on top of the ice and try to lift the ice cube
3. Put the matchstick back on the ice and sprinkle a little salt along the line where it touches the ice cube
4. Wait for 30 seconds and then attempt to pick up the ice cube again

What’s the science?

The science of this experiment is that first, ice and water have the same melting and freezing rate.

With that said, they will release energy this time it will be in form of heat.

Now, when you pour the salt on top and around the matchstick but now under it;

the ice will then refreeze trapping or freezing the match as well.

Extra for experts:

Why do we sprinkle salt on icy roads?

The reason for this is because the salt will lower the freezing point of the water but also will lower the melting point of the ice. We ice roads because so that the ice would melt quicker so that the roads will not be slippy and we would avoid more accidents.

Simple Geometry

In my maths with Mrs Hastie, we recapped what we learnt about simple geometry. We then needed to explain the different parts and create a  slideshow after it. This slideshow will have some information about geometry; like the "Line of symmetry", "Translation" and etc.  I hope that this will help you to understand geometry easier; have a nice day bye!

Business and Enterprise - Market Day!

This Term, Term 3 would be our Market day, which is a very special one for me because it's my very first one.  In this Market day, groups of yr7 and 8's are mixed together to make teams of 4; then they would create a plan and talk about what product they would produce. They will then decide on their product, finish their plan and mail a letter that would convince the assistant principal to invest in their companies with a maximum amount of $20; which would be the money to buy the ingredients for their product. 

In my team, there is Riege as the CEO, Gerald as the Advertising Manager, Ian as the Sales/Financial Manager and me as the Product Manager. Our company name is "The French Bakery" and our product is called a Croquembouche - (Croquembouche is a French dessert drenched in caramel, it is a sweet dessert that melts in your mouth the moment you reach the middle. It’ crunchy on the outside but is soft and fluffy in the inside.)

Currently, we are working on some advertisement for our company, and in the next few weeks, we're gonna start making it. We hope it would be a success and we also hope that we would make a lot of profit; more importantly we hope that people will enjoy eating what we're going to make with passion.

This is all for now.

Elephant's Toothpaste!

This Friday in science we learnt how to make Elephant's Toothpaste! Basically, it is a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, dishwashing liquid and yeast with warm water. The reaction is caused by a rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide making use of yeast as the catalyst. It was a really interesting experiment, with some different outcome per each group. Mainly because of the thickness of the yeats and warm water mixture, with some being too thick and some with just the right amount of water. The mixture didn't have a really bad smell, however, from what I smelled, it's best to avoid sniffing it. It was really a fun experiment and I hope we get to do more! Anyway if you want to do it at home here is the recipe and the method, but before you can do it adult supervision is required, have fun!

Elephant’s Toothpaste         

Resources:

• Safety glasses
• A cylinder
• Rubber gloves
• A tote tray to protect the bench from damage
• 120ml Hydrogen Peroxide 6%  
• Dishwash liquid
• Dry yeast
• Food colouring
• Funnel
• Tablespoon
• Beaker

Procedure:

1. Put on your gloves and goggles.
2. Put a tote tray on the bench and put your cylinder in the tote tray, with the funnel in the top.
3. Ask the teacher to pour the hydrogen peroxide into your cylinder (via the funnel).
4. Add 10 drops of food colouring to the cylinder (via the funnel).
5. Add a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid to the bottle (via the funnel).
6. Swirl your cylinder around to mix everything together.
7. In a beaker, mix a tablespoon of dry yeast with 3 tablespoons of warm water and stir for 30 seconds.
8. Pour the yeast mixture into the cylinder (via the funnel).
9. Stand back and watch the chemical reaction!
10. Pour the mixture down the drain afterwards and wash out the cylinder.

Scientific Explanation (How it works):

The yeast and water mixture acts as a catalyst - something that speeds up a chemical reaction in another substance while remaining unchanged itself. When you add this to the cylinder it makes the hydrogen peroxide break down into oxygen and water. The dishwashing liquid traps the oxygen in bubbles to create the foam. Just a small amount of hydrogen peroxide will create a lot of oxygen, so you get loads of bubbles - making your ‘toothpaste’ almost explode out of the cylinder.

Extra for experts:

1. Is your cylinder warm after the experiment? Why? The cylinder is indeed warm, the cause of this is because when these certain chemicals are mixed together, it releases energy in this experiment it's in a form of heat.

I need you!!!

Here is our challenge :

"Over the next three weeks track how many comments you receive and who they are from. Each community group is worth a different amount of points. The team (Cybersmart Buddies) who have the most points by the end of the term will receive a reward. You can bribe, market and sell your blog in whatever way you see fit! Who is your target audience going to be??? "

I hope that you would be able to help me with this over the next few weeks, I would be extremely thankful if you could. Thank you very much and have a nice day.